The most topsy-turvy NFL season in years has finally reached an equally unpredictable postseason. Five of the eight division champions weren't even in the playoffs last season. Three of those division champions -- the Patriots, Bears and Panthers -- have quarterbacks making their playoff debuts. And one division champ -- the Steelers -- have a quarterback who will play in his 23rd playoff game, four years since his last one. And, in a data point that may explain the adjacent chaos in the coaching carousel, five of the division winners in the playoff field changed coaches in the last two years.
Things haven't felt this wide open in a long time, and that was a fine way for the NFC to take the stage on the first day of Wild Card Weekend. Here are my winners and losers from Saturday's two games.
WINNERS
1) Comebacks
The Bears were comeback kings in the regular season, winning a league-high six games when they were trailing at or after the two-minute warning. On Saturday, they took the lead with 1:43 remaining, on Caleb Williams' 25-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open DJ Moore, capping a comeback from a 21-3 halftime deficit. The Bears looked almost inept in the first quarter and then were unstoppable in the fourth. It was the biggest comeback in Bears postseason history and you got the feeling it certainly won't be the last.
2) Caleb Williams
He was visibly frustrated early, but Williams' poise, combined with his dazzling improvisational ability and explosive arm strength kept the Bears alive to creep back into the game. And then Chicago exploded for 25 points in the fourth quarter. The drive that drew them to within three points with less than five minutes to play was a beauty, and included an incredible fourth-and-8 pass, with Williams dodging pressure and somehow getting the ball to Rome Odunze in traffic. Williams' temperament may run hot when things aren't going well -- he was seen yelling early in the game -- but he has ice in his veins with the game on the line.
3) Matthew Stafford
He's a leading MVP candidate for a reason and Stafford showed why late in the Rams’ nailbiter over the Panthers. After a hot start, Stafford banged his throwing hand on a defender in the second quarter and had a stretch of seven consecutive incompletions spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second. But after the Panthers took their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter, Stafford led a go-ahead drive. After Carolina regained the lead, Stafford took over, telling Davante Adams "let’s snatch these guys’ hearts" and then executed a textbook two-minute drill. The Rams went 71 yards in seven plays, including a gorgeous Stafford throw to tight end Colby Parkinson -- he threw it high, to Parkinson's outside shoulder -- which Parkinson highpointed and dove to the pylon for the 19-yard score. The pass had a completion probability of 27.3%, the second-most improbable completion of the game, behind only Bryce Young's go-ahead touchdown to Jalen Coker (19.7%) two minutes earlier, per Next Gen Stats.
Stafford finished 24 of 42 for 304 yards, with three TDs and an interception. Stafford's hand will obviously be a point of concern going into the Divisional Round, but his gutsy performance Saturday was, as Adams said, "MVP stuff".
4) Puka Nacua
Whether he was screaming untouched down the middle of the field, or bouncing through heavy traffic in the red zone, Nacua was nearly unstoppable on his way to 10 receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown. The only hiccup came when Nacua dropped a perfect pass from Stafford that would have almost certainly resulted in a touchdown in the waning seconds of the first half. But Nacua's biggest contribution may have come when he turned into a defender, breaking up a would-be interception in the end zone with the Rams already trailing early in the fourth quarter. The drive continued and resulted in a touchdown, giving Los Angeles the lead back. That pass breakup may have saved the Rams season.
5) Colston Loveland
The rookie tight end was Caleb Williams' preferred target, with eight receptions for 137 yards and the two-point conversion that made it a three-point deficit late in the game. He and Williams have years to grow together and Loveland is the backbone of the offense.
6) Jordan Love
He was on fire early and finished with 323 yards and four touchdowns. The Bears' opportunistic defense didn't force a turnover, but they pressured Love late. He, though, was the reason the Packers were in the game at all.
7) Bryce Young
The game plan called for downfield throws and Young, playing the first playoff game of his career, delivered over and over. Given an opening late in the first half when Los Angeles failed to convert a fourth down, Young led a five-play, 81-yard drive that took advantage of defensive errors and then scrambled 16 yards for the touchdown. The score pulled Carolina to within three points and breathed life into the Panthers after being outplayed for most of the first half. His perfectly placed pass over a defender's shoulder to Coker in the corner of the end zone gave the Panthers a lead with 2:39 left. Under duress from the pass rush, he did not complete a pass on the Panthers' final drive, but Young and the offense showed tremendous growth in this game, rallying from an early hole to give the Rams a scare. Young spent 2025 erasing doubt that he is the franchise's future and he only underscored that on Saturday.
8) Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker
The Panthers' future is bright with these young receivers. McMillan could be the Offensive Rookie of the Year and he finished with five receptions for 81 yards. But it was Coker, in his second season after going undrafted out of Holy Cross, on whom Young relied the most, catching nine passes for 134 yards and a touchdown that gave the Panthers a late lead.
9) Rams pass rush
Young was not pestered much on Saturday -- he was sacked twice -- and on the Panthers final drive, the Rams didn't get Young down. But pressure was in his face on each of his first three dropbacks, forcing him to scramble out of the pocket to avoid a sack. That took precious seconds off the clock. Young threw four straight incompletions to end Carolina's chance.
10) A great rivalry
The third installment of a bitter Bears-Packers rivalry produced another classic, completing a nail-biting trilogy that began on Dec. 7 and saw each game decided by seven points or fewer. The icy handshake between coaches, the fan who smuggled a cheese grater and a hunk of cheese into Soldier Field, the jaw-dropping plays. Thank goodness this rivalry is back.
LOSERS
1) Packers defense
They gave up a 21-3 lead but that doesn't tell the whole story. They could not corral Caleb Williams once he got going, allowing him to buy time and rifle passes downfield. DJ Moore was wide open on the jailbreak of a winning touchdown. Colston Loveland was open for the two-point conversion on the previous possession. Losing Micah Parsons gutted the defense. They simply could not get to Williams.
2) Brandon McManus
The Packers kicker missed an extra point and two field goals, including one with less than three minutes to play that would have extended the Green Bay lead to six points.
3) Panthers fourth-down strategy
It worked for them during the regular season -- the Panthers were 27 of 40 on fourth down tries -- but that aggressiveness backfired on Saturday. They were 0 for 3 on fourth downs against the Rams, including on the game-opening drive, which allowed Los Angeles to start its first drive near midfield.
4) Rams penalties
The Rams are routinely among the least penalized teams in the league, but they were flagged nine times for 83 yards on Saturday. They enlivened and propelled multiple Panthers drives. The Rams survived the unforced errors, but those uncharacteristic miscues have to stop if they are to go much further.
5) Rams special teams
Los Angeles struggled on special teams so badly this season that Chase Blackburn was let go as special teams coordinator in December. That didn't solve everything. Isaiah Simmons blocked a punt with 4:17 left, which gave Carolina the ball at the Rams' 30-yard line and led to the Panthers' touchdown that gave them a four-point lead with little more than two minutes remaining. Special teams miscues cost the Rams during the regular season -- including the late loss to the Seahawks that pushed Sean McVay's team out the top spot in the NFC -- and they nearly prematurely ended the postseason, too.
